Editing with Regedit

Introducing Regedit

Remember the Newhart TV show with the brothers Larry, Darryl, and
Darryl? Each time they introduced themselves, Larry would say, "This is my
brother Darryl and this is my other brother Darryl." Likewise, Registry
Editor is the name of two different programsboth have the same name, both have
similar features, but each has unique capabilities. Regedit is the program you
learn about in this chapter; Microsoft Windows 3.1, Microsoft Windows 95, and
Microsoft Windows 98 also include it. This basic Registry editor is easier to
use and has a better search feature than its sibling, Regedt32. Regedt32 is the
other Registry editor, which every version of Microsoft Windows NT includes.
Regedt32 can change subkeys' permissions, can edit advanced data types such
as REG_MULTI_SZ, and has other features that make it more of a power tool than
Regedit. Despite that, Regedit is still the appropriate choice for most editing
jobs because it's quicker and easier to use.

NOTE

Throughout this book, I distinguish between the two registry editors only
when necessary to avoid confusion or whenever you must use a particular program
to perform a task. In most cases, when you read Registry Editor, you can
use either Regedit or Regedt32. Regedit and Regedt32 aren't arbitrary
names; they are the names of each program's executable file.

Microsoft doesn't treat all users equally. The company's attitude
about Regedit is that if users don't know about it, they won't miss
it. When users install Microsoft Windows 2000, the setup program doesn't
copy a shortcut for Regedit to the Start menu, and Microsoft doesn't say
much about it. For that matter, Windows 2000 Help contains barely a handful of
screens that describe how to use Regedit. That's probably just as well;
Microsoft wants to prevent inexperienced users from accidentally harming their
configurations by tampering with the Registry, so the company doesn't
provide encouragement by over-documenting it. Administrators and power users
can't avoid Regedit, however. It's their window into their
computer's configurationWindows 2000's heart and soulallowing
them to fix many problems and customize the operating system in a variety of
ways. Use Regedit to customize Windows Explorer, for example, or use it to
customize files' shortcut menus. Many articles in Microsoft's
Knowledge Base require you to use Regedit to make subtle changes to the
registry.

Regedit is a powerful but simple program. It has no toolbar; its menus are
straightforward. It has two panes, displaying the registry's organization
on the left side of the window and actual configuration data on the right
sidenot too complicated. This is the program you learn to use in this chapter.
You also learn varieties of helpful tips that come from my own agonizing
experiences with Regedit. The program is so simple, however, that it's not
useful for certain tasks. If you must change subkeys' permissions or edit
data types other than REG_BINARY, REG_DWORD, and REG_SZ, use Regedt32, which you
learn about in Chapter 4, "Editing with Regedt32."